Taste the Świętokrzyskie

Świętokrzyskie is delicious! It smells of forests, fields and the fruits of the annual harvest. The fruit of nature are used to create simple, tasty dishes for lunch or a warm dinner. Here are some suggestions of the Świętokrzyskie region cuisine, which you can taste during your trip. Get inspired and cook Świętokrzyskie dishes in your home.

The Świętokrzyskie cuisine originates from rural traditions. The not very fertile land of Kielce bore potatoes, cabbage, legumes and cereals for groats and flour. The forests provided mushrooms and honey. The fertile Ponidzie and Sandomierz region, on the other hand, abounded in fruit orchards.

Try the nutritious zalewajka soup or sour zarzucajka, dumplings with broad beans, goose or buckwheat. Indulge in strawberries from the Bieliny fields, whose festival is celebrated in June. And if you want to take some of the Świętokrzyskie flavours with you and share them with your family and loved ones, buy the Opatów fudge or Szydłów plum in delicious chocolate.

Broth and tomato soup give way to zalewajka in the Świętokrzyskie region. This queen of soups has seen so many variations that every housewife has her own way of making it. The classic zalewajka is cooked on a base of sour rye soup with potatoes, forest mushroom and pork rind. The richer version has pieces of sausage and bacon.

The most original and filling zalewajka is served at the Izba Dobrego Smaku inn in Huta Szklana at the foot of the Holy Cross. In a large bowl, the zalewajka is served under a fried egg, which enriches the flavour of the soup.

Zalewajka reigns on the menus of most restaurants and eateries in and around Kielce We recommend zalewajka on the Świętokrzyska Kuźnia Smaków trail.

Potatoes were brought to Europe from America in the 16th century. But they did not find their way to Poland until the 18th century, thanks to Andrzej Załuski, Bishop of Krakow. Initially, this uninviting vegetable was used for distilling purposes. However, Kielce housewives soon found a use for it and conjured up dishes that were simple, tasty and very filling.

Grated, boiled, baked potatoes - goły (boiled potato and flour balls coated with pork fat), dumplings, tryndle and targańce. There was also zmiociorz, i.e. potato pate. Dumplings stuffed with potatoes is a showpiece dish of the Świętokrzyskie grandmothers. Nowadays, they are made with meat, topped with mushroom sauce.

And in the autumn, sweet apple pies made from Sandomierz apples boost the mood once summer is gone. Especially Sandomierz apples, the many varieties of which you will get to know thanks to the Sandomierz Apple Trail. And if you like liquid fruit, try the naturally sweet apple juices, those of Sandomierz, but also those of Jabusko, enriched with the healing sea buckthorn. When passing through Bieliny, visit the PPH "Smaki Ogrodu" which produces apple juice from Bieliny.

The flavour and smell of summer in a glass of wine while tasting wine from Świętokrzyskie vineyards. The vines that grow in our region each year provide the opportunity to produce wines with rich aromas and flavours that will satisfy the palates of many wine lovers.

Wine strains are particularly fond of the loess soil of the Sandomierz region, which is why this is where there are the most vineyards with a wide offer. Remember that vineyards are also places where you can stay to rest and relax. Several of the vineyards offer oenotourists the opportunity to stay overnight, and the combination of sunset and a vineyard will stay in the memory for a long time.

A golden slice of bread, crunchy at first bite, soft as down inside and the aroma reminiscent of lazy weekend breakfasts... If you are tempted by good quality bread, without any enhancers, try the Bodzentyn bread, the baked goods of Mr Ernest Noga from Mąchocice (in the Masłów municipality) and the Iwański bread from the Krzyżtopór castle area in Ujazd, as well as the Bieliński, Koprzywnik bread and many others.

Candy, biscuits and cakes based on natural ingredients. We have such sweets in the Świętokrzyskie region, the taste of which you will not find in other regions.

Chewy or crisp? When you don't know which one to choose, try Krówka Opatowska (Opatów fudge).
Krówka Opatowska is the flagship confectionery of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, produced for over 30 years at OSM in Opatów, using an unchanged method and packaged by hand. What's more, this sweet has its own special day - the Opatów Fudge Festival, which takes place at the end of August.

"U Szarego" confectionery - the Opatów doughnut
The Szary family confectionery, founded in the 1960s, is one of the oldest confectionery businesses in the region. "Szary" bakes doughnuts the traditional way, using recipes unchanged since the 1960s, on egg yolks and fried in lard with a choice fruit filling.

Strawberry and cream ice cream from Trepka
Nowa Słupia is the last village from where we head to the top of Łysa Góra. But before you embark on a pilgrimage for the health of the spirit, do something for the body and try the ice cream at Mrs Trepka's café "Tradycja". The advantage of ice cream from Trepka is the composition and method of production. It is an in-house recipe based on natural products: milk, fruit from the farmers of Huta Podłysica, caster sugar, vanilla and other spices selected according to the taste of the ice cream and the production, as the owner says... "The ice-cream are made every day, the so called one-day ice-cream..."